36 A CONTINENTAL TOUE. 



improvement suggested by him, he could not possibly 

 understand ; for over the left hand of the beautiful crea- 

 ture before mentioned is placed a ponderous chapeau-bras, 

 richly gilded, and sufficiently large, in the eye of taste and 

 feeling, to overshadow one-half of the mausoleum itself, 

 though, no doubt, in the opinion of its infatuated manu- 

 facturer, spreading a halo light through every corner of 

 the edifice. Above the canopy there is a large and beau- 

 tiful alabaster urn, on which a suit of armour of white 

 marble, and of most exquisite workmanship, is placed ; 

 and near it, the prince is represented stretched upon his 

 tomb. At his feet there is the figure of the dog which, at 

 a former period, having saved his life, by awakening him 

 when his tent was beset by Spaniards, is reported to have 

 refused all sustenance after the death of its beloved master. 

 This great prince, if my memory serves me, was assassi- 

 nated by a native of Burgundy, who shot him in the breast 

 with three balls, when he was descending his own staircase 

 after dinner. The assassin, whose name was Balthazar Ge- 

 rard, was supposed to have been instigated on the one hand 

 by the machinations of some diabolical monks, and on the 

 other, allured by the gold and by the promises of the perfi- 

 dious Philip. Gerard, like many other villains, was well en- 

 dowed with personal courage ; and, with a resolution worthy 

 of a better cause, he sacrificed his own life in order to destroy 

 this famous restorer and protector of religious liberty 



